Fresh off a convincing win in the recent Regina Northeast by-election, NDP Leader Ryan Meili today announced a shuffle of critic responsibilities for his opposition caucus that positions them as Saskatchewan’s government-in-waiting ahead of the 2020 election.

“This team represents real leadership for Saskatchewan, both in the Legislature and in communities throughout the province,” said NDP Leader Ryan Meili. “Together, we will continue to provide a strong opposition that will hold the Sask. Party to account for their harmful decisions while also championing ideas that will help build a better future for Saskatchewan.”

The NDP is calling out the Sask. Party for stripping hundreds of thousands of dollars from municipalities’ traffic safety programs each year. Under the new model, revenue that was previously distributed to municipalities for local traffic safety initiatives and programs will now be administered by the province instead, with 25% still being diverted directly to the general revenue fund.

“The Sask. Party hasn’t balked at any opportunity to offload additional costs onto municipalities, and now they’re unilaterally changing the rules to deny municipalities this needed revenue,” said NDP SGI Critic Carla Beck. “This cash grab is a direct hit on cities’ ability to invest in needed infrastructure that will serve the community and make it safer.”

Despite the public’s outrage at the slow sell-off of our province’s valuable Crowns, the Sask. Party government is pushing ahead with the sale of two publicly owned gas plants to a private, out-of-province company for $31.3 million.

“Saskatchewan’s publicly owned Crown Corporations were built by Saskatchewan people, for Saskatchewan people. They’re a proud pillar of our economy, delivering vital public services at affordable rates. But the Sask. Party has shown through their actions that we simply can’t trust them with our Crowns,” said NDP SaskEnergy Critic Nicole Rancourt. “Again and again, they’ve failed to be transparent about how they’re managing our Crowns. They sold off STC just a few months after telling voters it was safe. They won’t tell us how much they got for our STC assets, and now they’re selling off SaskEnergy assets.”

While our neighbouring western provinces are creating more jobs and expanding economic activity, two recent reports highlight just how far Saskatchewan is falling behind with Scott Moe’s Sask. Party at the helm. Scotiabank released their economic outlook for 2018-19 on Friday, and it showed fewer people being hired in Saskatchewan, with provincial employment down 0.3 per cent year over year. It also showed that inflation in Saskatchewan leads the country aside from B.C., likely the lingering result of last year’s PST hike.

“The Sask. Party is doing nothing to bolster the economy and address the alarming economic indicators we’re seeing. People can’t find work and have nowhere to turn,” said NDP Jobs Critic Vicki Mowat. “Provinces such as Alberta have responded proactively to a struggling job market and created jobs and training programs to improve the economy. The Sask. Party strategy seems to be to keep repeating ‘this is fine’ in the hopes it eventually is.”

In response to yesterday’s war of words between the provincial government and the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation (STF), NDP Education Critic and Deputy Leader Carla Beck renewed her call for the province to fully restore education funding to 2016 levels, and called for predictable, stable funding for our classrooms going forward.

“Both the Premier and the Deputy Premier ran on promises to invest in education, and as a result, teachers played kingmaker through their organized participation in the leadership race,” said NDP Deputy Leader and Education Critic Carla Beck. “Moe and Wyant’s failure to follow through on those commitments shows the cynicism with which they approached their relationship with teachers.”